I know what you’re thinking. You know how I know what you’re thinking? It’s because I’m thinking the same thing, or should I say I have in the past. You’re thinking it’s almost the holidays, the New Year is around the corner, I’ll start doing ‘x’ then. X can be anything. The changes to your diet you’ve been thinking about but never actually tried, the exercise you keep telling yourself you’ll get to one day, getting your hormones on track and quitting smoking once and for all. Trust me, I’ve pretty well heard it all.

However, I want to encourage you to do something different this year. I want to encourage you to do what I did, stop waiting for ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ and start doing it today. As we head into the busy season of holiday parties and family get togethers I encourage to make one change. That’s right, just one.This change can be anything to do with one of your big goals you’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but it has to be small. What do I mean by this? Well, it means that whatever change you choose to make it has to take as minimal effort as possible to do so you literally have no excuse but to do it pretty much everyday.

For example, if your goal has been to work out or get more active and you’ve gotten into exercising a few times but then fallen off track time and time again, then simply start with walking more. That can be anything small like parking at the back of the lot so you have further to walk to get into the store, or taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator, or even walking up and down the stairs at home for a minute or two. Anything that doesn’t really require you to do too much thinking.

Now, you may be asking yourself, ok I get it small steps, what difference does that make? Well, it makes a big difference actually. I’ll use the exercise example again. Have you or at least ‘have a friend’ who has decided that they’re going to be more active this year, so they go and sign up for a gym membership at the beginning of January. They’re super pumped and excited, and decide to go the gym every day before work the following week. Keep in mind they’ve been exercising minimally up to this point. Where do you think this person is by day 3, at best day 4, of these intensive work outs? They’re probably at home nursing an injury or so stiff and sore they can barely walk, let alone work out. By the time they feel good enough to go back to the gym it’s been at least a week or more and that burning desire is dwindling down. They might mount a second or a third attempt, but generally speaking within about 3 months or less of starting that gym membership they are no longer going at all. Tell me, does this sound familiar?

Let’s look at the same person in a different way. Let’s call this person Andy. Andy wants to get in better shape, and decided to make this his new years resolution. He’s going to wait for the good deals to get a membership in January for the gym, but he wants to do something to get started now. He used to be pretty active in his teens and twenties, but has been more sedentary since he got a desk job, got married and started a family. At work he has about 3-4 flights of stairs to his office, but he usually takes the elevator. He notices that Bob, a close friend and colleague usually takes the stairs. Andy thinks, well I can certainly take the stairs if Bob can, he’s a good 10 years older than me. Andy starts walking the stairs to and from his office.

At first he feels a little winded, and this makes him realize, ‘man I really do need to get into shape’, so it encourages him to continue taking the stairs. This isn’t enough pain or discomfort to stop him all together, especially if Bob noticed he couldn’t handle the stairs, but it’s enough to get him wanting to do more. After a few days to a week it’s getting easier to walk up and down the stairs and Andy doesn’t even really notice feeling winded. Another week or two and he’s not even thinking about the elevator, he automatically goes for the stairs.

He’s feeling pretty good, and happens to be talking to Sally one day about his stair climbing and she mentions how she does the same thing by parking at the back of the lot so she has a longer walk to the building. Andy starts thinking, ‘hey I could do that’, so he starts parking at the end of the lot to walk to the building and up the stairs. At first it’s a bit of challenge adding it to the stairs, but again in about a week he’s feeling good and another week or so and he’s not even noticing the difference.Can you see where I am going with this? Success breads success. When we have small wins or successes, then it spurs us on to find new success. We are a reward driven type of people, and the more often we can reinforce ourselves with positive results or success then the more likely we are to continue with that behavior. Therefore, giving yourself small steps that you can feel good about in a short amount of time encourages you to look around and say what else can I do, instead of being defeated before you even start.

Please take my advice and don’t wait until January 1st to take that first step. Take it now, you’ll feel so much better if you do! Well, what did I end up not waiting until January to do you might still be asking. I too am still trying to reach my own personal best goals and I decided to make sure I can always have a good balanced breakfast in the morning. The small change I've made is to get things ready the night before if I am worried about having enough time in the morning to make it. If you want to know more about the why behind my change, take a look at my recent video about the importance of breakfast. For now though, go and pick your one small change, start doing it right now and let me know how you feel. You don’t have to wait for January 1st to start making your health better.

Not sure where to start or how to go about achieving your goals? Talk to me about it. There’s only a few weeks left to use up your health benefits, why not use them to finish your year well and start the New Year ahead of the game as far as your health is concerned.

Note: Talk to your Naturopathic Doctor today about getting assessed and treated if needed, and as always talk to your health care provider before beginning any new medication or supplement. This information is not meant to replace the advice/guidance of a medical professional, nor should it be acted upon by individuals unsupervised by the appropriate healthcare provider.

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Sarah Connors

I am a Naturopathic Doctor and Doula providing care in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. I have a passion for helping people with their health issues and improving the birth experience for Moms, and their babies. I also have a life long love affair with soccer, curling, and the alto saxophone.